Messaging and billing company zamano has launched a mobile ad unit to negotiate bulk buying on behalf of its content provider partners. The company has already agreed an agency deal with Yahoo to offer WAP inventory to its existing customers.
zamano provides messaging and billing services via 3G, SMS, MMS, WAP and IVR (Interactive Vocie Response) into all UK, Irish and Australian operators. It says the launch of an ad buying unit is an obvious next step as its mobile content provider clients are among the most enthusiastic purchasers of WAP banner inventory.
The aggregation industry is commoditised and there is very little scope to differentiate, therefore its important to add value where at all possible, says zamano UK Country Manager, Declan Pettit. The new ad unit continues zamanos strategy to offer an end-to-end solution for partners that complements its existing offering of a mobile white label solution comprising billing, content management services and powerful reporting tools.
zamano says it is in discussions with all operators in the territories in which it operates, plus high traffic off-portal sites. It expects to announce more formal partnerships soon.
zamano notes that, according to Informa, 80% of mobile ads are currently generated by mobile content providers. Meanwhile, WAP page impressions are also soaring. According to the Mobile Data Association, 17 million people accessed the Internet on their mobiles in December 2007, equating to 23% of mobile users in the UK.